Last week I spent some wonderful moments installing a recent sculpture of mine in the ancient burial site of Pilane in Sweden.
And my summer stay in Pilane, when the sun worked overtime keeping the landscape warm and well-lit till 10 pm was thoroughly enjoyable.
What I liked most about this part of Sweden was how the deep blue skies and bluer waters are separated by rock-formations that are largely free of habitation as well as vegetation. In fact, some rocks are so sparse it’s as though Mother Nature affectionately decorated them with some green embroidery.
Pilane is close to Tjorn, a rocky island, forming part of the Swedish west coast archipelago. Pilane and Tjorn are around an hour’s drive from Gothenburg.
At Tjorn hire a boat for the day, ride the waters and go isle-hopping to the many fishing villages and coast towns. Walking the bushes, climbing the rocks and exploring the waters are all part of the experience. Also not to be missed are the fresh North Atlantic seafood delicacies; some of these islands have charming restaurants and cafes near the shores.
We had our lunch at Hamneskar, one of the islands in the Pater Noster rocks. The best part was to climb up a recently restored light-house that had been totally corroded and dilapidated. The light-house also offered a breath-taking bird’s eye view of this archipelago.
My work ‘Untitled (W.W.Y.B.H.)’ was a hundred feet long sculpture with the short utterance ‘when will you be happy’ embedded into this prehistoric burial site. Having installed this piece within the first three of my six-day stay, meant that I had the last three days to quietly re-think my work as well as absorb the silence of this magical landscape.
One amusing experience on my last day was to meet a young Swedish journalist who said that she had spent her previous weekend hosting a “Bollywood Party” for her friends at her home. This was with the help of her Swedish dance teacher who is coaching her to do the desi boogie.If Bollywood moves are getting transplanted in Tjorn, I wished I could transfer some of the silence from here back home.
—As told to Ashish Virmani
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